


Née: Silecs

by amateur_professional



Series: Parsecs [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: AU, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:54:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25455790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amateur_professional/pseuds/amateur_professional
Summary: Sid is a special kid, Nick knows.
Relationships: Nick Neilson & Sid Neilson
Series: Parsecs [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1843768
Kudos: 3





	Née: Silecs

**Author's Note:**

> yes i understand that née is basically exclusively used for spouses who get their last name changed

Presently, Sid was sprawled out on the floor, with one arm propping up a book and the other under his chin. A pile of books was next to him and he was flipping through what looked like a dictionary or encyclopedia. Something thick and heavy. Nick glanced at him, his thoughts going back to when the kid first moved in.

The agency he adopted Sid from had told him beforehand about the boy being ‘special’. But not in the way that he’d heard people use the word, to downplay some serious mental illness. Sid performed well in social interactions and tests of morality. He responded normally to questions, seemed to understand the unsaid rules of society, and did remarkably well in school. His IQ tests were.. a mess, to say the least. They were through the roof, in the 99th percentile, until Sid simply got bored of doing them and scribbled on them instead. He didn’t need additional care, meds, or therapists—because whatever the kid’s condition was, it wasn’t something that could simply be treated. Chronic alexithymia, they said, brought on by environmental factors and details that Sid had, apparently, adamantly refused to reveal.

He’d asked for the foster workers to go over it again, in English.

Apathy and reduced affect display, to be more precise. A permanent inability to feel and express emotions as strongly as the average, neurotypical person. And since he didn’t appear to get better during the years in foster care before Nick came into the equation they thought there was a chance it could be permanent. He didn’t think much of it at first; who didn’t want a kid who wouldn’t whine, or cry, or demand attention when you’re not in the mood? It just seemed like.. easy mode parenting.

But then, as humans do, he got attached to the little guy. It just happens when you live in the same house for this long. And the house became empty in a different kind of way.

Sid was present. He ate meals and walked around and slept. But he didn’t laugh, or growl, or make any noise that wasn’t articulate monotone speech. It was like living with a robot. The most lifelike robot one could imagine. That was, until he figured out how Sid ‘worked’.

Nick took a sip of his coffee—no liquor added to spike it this time. His body craved it, but he was doing this for the stupid.. adorably stupid yet genius kid he adopted. Sid could sniff out anything he was trying to hide, and though he never commented on it, he seemed to disapprove of Nick’s coping vices.. in his own, silent way.

Robots weren’t curious. They couldn’t desire or prefer. Robots didn’t understand affection in a meaningful way.

Sid was.. a weird kid. But he was nowhere near being a robot, he now realized. Even if his genius could one day take over the world, or something. Right now he seemed content, living with his adoptive dad and doing face boops to show how he cared.


End file.
